Shari Thomas, M.D.

Child, Adolescent and Adult Psychiatrist

Dr. Shari S. Thomas, MD. is a Montgomery County native. After she graduated from Georgetown University with her bachelor’s degree in psychology, she received a research fellowship from the National Institute for Mental Health. For two years, she worked in a lab which investigated the neurobiology of schizophrenia. She then went to Howard University College of Medicine and learned how to best serve underserved patients.

Dr. Thomas then received her general psychiatry residency education from Emory University, a program that prides itself on teaching both psychopharmacology and psychotherapy. She went on to complete her fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to better understand the treatment of psychiatric illness in children with concurrent medical illness(es). On graduation from fellowship, she stayed on at CHOP as a member of the consult team. She was also tasked with developing the curriculum for the fellows for their consult-liaison rotation.

Dr. Thomas always knew that she wanted to make her home in the D.C. metropolitan area, so she moved back here in 2014. For the last 18 months, she has been the director of the children’s inpatient psychiatric unit at Adventist Behavioral Health in Rockville. With her experience in several different clinical settings, Dr. Thomas has treated a whole host of different illnesses widely ranging in severity and treatment-responsiveness. Dr. Thomas believes that a multimodal approach is the best way to treat a child, and that partnering with a child’s family is essential in making lasting progress.

When not at work, Dr. Thomas is a mentor in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. She is also passionate about juvenile justice and the fair sentencing of youth. She is an avid reader, and she once made 1,000 origami cranes.